Cranbrook School Fees 2026: Sydney Tuition, Boarding and Honest Review

Cranbrook School fees for 2026 range from $35,526 a year in Kindergarten to $52,470 a year in Years 11–12 for domestic students, with boarding charged on top at $46,602 a year for Years 7–12 (AUD), according to the school’s official 2026 Fee Schedule, dated December 2025 (checked 3 November 2026). A domestic day student in Years 7–10 pays $50,478 a year, so a domestic boarder in Year 7 pays $97,080 and a boarder in Years 11–12 pays $99,072. Every family also pays a non-refundable $440 application fee and, when a place is formally offered and accepted, a non-refundable $7,500 enrolment fee. International students pay higher tuition: $61,596 a year in Years 7–10 and $63,588 in Years 11–12. When we checked, the fees page still linked only the 2026 schedule; 2027 fees were not published on the official site.

If you searched “Cranbrook School fees”, “Cranbrook boarding fees” or “Cranbrook vs Sydney Grammar”, you probably want more than one number. You want to know what each stage costs, what is extra, how the total adds up to Year 12, how entry works now that the school is moving to co-education, what scholarships exist, and whether it is worth it for your child. This page is about Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill, Sydney (NSW, Australia) — not Cranbrook School in Kent, England, or Cranbrook Schools in Michigan, USA. It answers those questions from Cranbrook’s own website and fee schedule, then compares it with Sydney Grammar School, Shore and NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY (NGA) — a very different option: an online international school for ages 6–18 that opens in September 2027.

The short answer: who Cranbrook suits — and who it doesn’t

• Suits: families in Sydney’s eastern suburbs who want a K–12 Anglican independent school on one harbourside campus, with pre-schools, a Junior School and a Senior School.
• Suits: families who want a choice of senior credential. In Years 11–12 students choose between the NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) and the IB Diploma, and Years 7–10 are taught through the IB Middle Years Programme framework.
• Suits: families who want co-education. Cranbrook was historically a boys’ school; girls were first admitted into Years 7 and 11 in 2026, and the school plans full co-education across the campus by 2029.
• Suits: boarding and overseas families who want a small boarding community in the city. Two boarding houses hold about 75 boarders, and the school is registered to enrol overseas students (CRICOS 02298E).
• Harder fit: families who need a lower budget. Domestic day fees from Year 7 to Year 12 total over $300,000 at 2026 prices, and boarding adds $46,602 a year. Scholarship values are not published.
• Harder fit: families who want to enter in any year. The published entry points are Pre-School, Kindergarten, Year 3, Year 7 and Year 11; other years depend on vacancies.
• Harder fit: families who live outside Sydney and do not want boarding, or who want their child to learn from home. A school in their own city or an online option may fit better.

What Cranbrook School is

Cranbrook School describes itself as an Anglican independent day and boarding school. Its official history says it “was established on 22 July 1918 in Bellevue Hill”, on the shores of Sydney Harbour, as a school in the Anglican tradition. The campus is at 5 Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. The school is listed as an IB World School and an approved provider of courses to overseas students (CRICOS 02298E), and its curriculum page says Cranbrook was “the first major Independent School in Sydney to become an IB Continuum School”.

The school runs two pre-schools (St Mark’s and St Michael’s, both already co-educational), a Junior School, a Senior School with boarding, and a residential and experiential education site in the Wolgan Valley, set between the Blue Mountains and Wollemi National Parks. The official site does not state which year groups go to Wolgan Valley or for how long. The current Head of School named on the official co-education page is Dr Anne Johnstone.

Cranbrook School fees 2026 (official)

All figures below come from the school’s fees page and the Cranbrook School 2026 Fee Schedule (PDF), checked on 3 November 2026. Tuition and boarding fees are charged in advance in three equal instalments, at the beginning of Terms 1, 2 and 3. Two further statements are sent at the beginning and end of Term 4 for incidental expenses incurred during Terms 3 and 4. All fees are billed in Australian dollars.

Tuition by year level (2026)

The schedule explains that international students pay a higher tuition fee because the school does not receive Government per capita grants for them.

Boarding fees (2026)

Boarding is charged in addition to tuition, at $15,534 per instalment, or $46,602 a year, for Years 7–12. The same boarding fee applies to domestic and international students, and it is inclusive of GST on the food component. Adding tuition and boarding together:

The official boarding pages do not say whether weekly boarding is offered, so we have not assumed a weekly rate.

One-off fees, the building fund and payment rules

The schedule also lists the two pre-schools separately, with fees that depend on the NSW Government’s Start Strong fee relief. For example, five days a week costs $23,693 a year with the fee relief applied through St Mark’s or St Michael’s, and $27,258 without it.

Extras: what the fees do not cover

The schedule says additional charges apply for optional subject tuition such as instrument lessons, for excursions and for activities outside the normal school programme, and that the school may charge GST on them where exemptions do not apply. It does not publish amounts for uniforms, books, devices, camps, Wolgan Valley stays, tours or music lessons — not published on the official site. Ask the admissions team for an indicative list before you budget. Overseas families should also allow for student-visa costs and Overseas Student Health Cover, which are not set out on the fees page.

What Cranbrook costs to Year 12 (2026 prices)

Using only the official 2026 figures, assuming no fee rises, no scholarship, no extras and no building-fund donation:

• Domestic day student, Year 7 to Year 12: 4 × $50,478 (Years 7–10) + 2 × $52,470 (Years 11–12) = $306,852, plus $440 application and $7,500 enrolment = $314,792.
• Domestic boarder, Year 7 to Year 12: $306,852 tuition + 6 × $46,602 boarding ($279,612) = $586,464, plus $7,940 in entry fees = $594,404.
• Domestic day student, Kindergarten to Year 12: $35,526 + 2 × $37,785 + 2 × $41,826 + 2 × $43,236 = $281,220 for K–6, plus $306,852 for Years 7–12 = $588,072, plus $7,940 = $596,012.
• Domestic entry at Year 11 (two years): 2 × $52,470 = $104,940, plus $7,940 = $112,880.
• International boarder, Year 7 to Year 12: 4 × $61,596 + 2 × $63,588 = $373,560 tuition, plus $279,612 boarding = $653,172, plus $7,940 = $661,112, before visa and health cover.

If you pay the voluntary building-fund donation, add $600 a year. Schools in NSW review fees every year, so real totals will be higher than these 2026-price sums. Our guide to online vs in-person international school costs puts figures like these in a wider context.

Entry points and how admissions work (including girls’ entry)

The official Apply to Enrol page says: “Entry points to Cranbrook School are Pre-School, Kindergarten, Year 3, Year 7 and Year 11.” Entry to other years depends on vacancies. The steps are an online application (you create an account first), a recommended visit or Open Day, admissions activities, a possible interview, a written offer or decline, and acceptance of the place with the enrolment documents and the non-refundable enrolment fee (or Pre-School deposit). The school notes that “not all candidates will be brought forward to interview”.

Co-education. The Coeducation at Cranbrook page says girls have been admitted into Year 7 and Year 11 of the Senior School, with “full coeducation across the campus by 2029”, and the homepage now states “We are co-ed”. In practice this means a girl can currently join at the Year 7 and Year 11 entry points; the official page does not publish enrolment numbers for girls or a year-by-year table for the Junior School, so ask admissions how the transition applies to the year your daughter would enter.

Overseas families. The International Families page says Cranbrook is an approved provider under the ESOS Act, deals with overseas families directly rather than through agencies, and sends senior staff to South East Asia each year to interview applicants. It lists boarders from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, the USA, London, Papua New Guinea and The Bahamas. English-language test requirements, guardianship rules and the year levels open to overseas students are set out in linked PDF policies rather than on the page itself — not published on the page we checked.

Scholarships and Cranbrook Foundation scholarships

The official Scholarships page lists three types for entry in Year 7 and Year 11 in 2028: Academic, All Rounder and Music. Scholarships “may provide full or partial remission of tuition fees”, but the number of awards and their dollar or percentage value are not published on the official site. Applicants register online, submit school reports, NAPLAN results, awards and portfolios, and sit the Academic Assessment Services (AAS) scholarship examination; music applicants also send a performance video and may be called to audition.

If you are reading this in early November 2026, registration closes in less than three weeks. Separately, Cranbrook Foundation Scholarships offer financial assistance to students whose circumstances might otherwise limit access to the school; the page says they “are closed for 2027 and will soon open for 2028”. Their value, number and means-testing criteria are not published on the official site. The boarding pages mention a boarding scholarship and say scholarships are offered to “day students and boarders alike”, without further detail. No sibling discount appears in the 2026 fee schedule.

How the school year and school day work: terms, boarding and time zones

Like all Australian schools, Cranbrook follows a calendar year with four terms. The official calendar page shows Senior School Term 1 2027 starting on Tuesday 2 February (with a Meet the Mentor Day on Monday 1 February) and Term 4 ending on Friday 10 December 2027; Junior School Years 1–6 start on Monday 1 February. Families moving from the Northern Hemisphere should note that the Australian school year starts in late January or early February, so year levels may not line up with a September start.

In Years 7–8 students follow a common curriculum; Year 7 covers 12 subjects, including two languages chosen from French, Latin and Mandarin. In Years 9–10 they keep core subjects, a language and Religious Studies and choose two electives from ten, such as iSTEM, Big History, Commerce and Drama. An Honours Curriculum with termly seminars serves high-potential students in Years 7–10. Sport, music, drama and clubs are part of the Senior School programme, and boarders live in Rawson or Street House, each with 35–40 boarders, a Head of House and mentors. Cranbrook runs on Sydney time (UTC+10, or UTC+11 in daylight saving). For a different model, our article on how an online international school day works shows what live classes from home look like.

IB Diploma, HSC and results

The curriculum page says Senior School students “are provided two pathways of their choosing”: the HSC, where English is the only compulsory subject, or the IB Diploma, with courses across six subject groups plus Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and Creativity, Activity, Service. Both lead to university entry; the IB Diploma is also widely recognised overseas.

For the Class of 2025, the official HSC results page reports a median ATAR of 89.6, five students with an ATAR above 99, 279 Band 6 or equivalent mentions on the Distinguished Achievers list (achieved by 109 students) and 11 All Round Achievers. The IB results page reports a median IB score of 38.75, equivalent to a median ATAR of at least 95, with a top score of 43.5, and calls it the school’s highest average and median to date. The pages do not publish cohort sizes or the share of students above ATAR 90.

Cranbrook vs NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY vs two other options (official data)

Sources: Cranbrook School 2026 Fee Schedule and its fees, apply-to-enrol, co-education, scholarships, international families, curriculum, results and calendar pages; Sydney Grammar School 2026 schedule of fees; Shore 2027 fee schedule. All checked 3 November 2026. Note that the Shore figures are for 2027 and the Cranbrook and Sydney Grammar figures are for 2026, so the rows are not a like-for-like year comparison.

Cranbrook vs Sydney Grammar: the comparison most families make

Cranbrook and Sydney Grammar are both expensive eastern and inner-city Sydney independent schools, but they are built differently. On published 2026 tuition, the gap is small: Sydney Grammar charges a flat $52,410 a year for Years 7–12, while Cranbrook charges $50,478 in Years 7–10 and $52,470 in Years 11–12. Six years of tuition come to $314,460 at Sydney Grammar and $306,852 at Cranbrook. Entry costs differ in shape: Sydney Grammar’s $300 application plus an $8,735 entrance fee (one sixth of Form I tuition) is $9,035; Cranbrook’s $440 application plus $7,500 enrolment fee is $7,940.

The bigger differences are not financial. Sydney Grammar is a secular, academically selective boys’ day school offering the HSC; it is not registered to enrol international students and has no boarding. Cranbrook is Anglican, moving to full co-education, offers both the HSC and the IB Diploma, takes boarders and overseas students, and does not describe its entry as selective in the same way, although Years 7 and 11 applicants sit an academic assessment. If your daughter is applying, or you want the IB or boarding, Cranbrook is the one of the two that offers it. Our full Sydney Grammar School fees page covers its entrance assessments and scholarships in detail.

Reviews and common concerns, answered honestly

“Is Cranbrook School worth it?”

It depends on what you will use. The fee pays for a K–12 campus in Bellevue Hill, a choice of HSC or IB Diploma, the Wolgan Valley programme, boarding and a broad co-curricular life. Class of 2025 results (HSC median ATAR 89.6; IB median 38.75) show strong academic outcomes. If your child will make the most of these, many families see the value; if you mainly want a strong HSC close to home, other schools cost less.

“How is the move to co-education going?”

Girls joined Years 7 and 11 in 2026, and the school plans full co-education across the campus by 2029. During a transition, some year groups will have far more boys than girls. The official page does not publish numbers, so ask at a tour how many girls are in your child’s intended year and what the plan is for girls’ sport and boarding.

“Why are the entry fees so high?”

The $7,500 enrolment fee is non-refundable and paid when you accept a place, on top of the $440 application fee. It is in a similar range to other Sydney schools — Sydney Grammar’s entrance fee is $8,735 — but it is money you will not get back if plans change, so accept only when you are sure.

“What extras should we budget for?”

Instrument lessons, excursions and activities outside the normal programme are charged separately, and the voluntary building-fund donation adds $600 a year if paid. Uniform, device, camp and tour costs are not published, so ask admissions for an indicative list.

“Can we apply from overseas?”

Yes. Cranbrook is an approved CRICOS provider, interviews applicants in South East Asia each year and has boarders from many countries. International tuition is about $11,000 a year higher than domestic tuition in the Senior School, and boarding is the same $46,602.

Alternatives to Cranbrook School worth comparing

Sydney Grammar School is the closest comparison for many eastern-suburbs families: a secular boys’ day school with an academically selective entrance assessment and the HSC, at $52,410 a year for Years 7–12 in 2026. See our Sydney Grammar School fees page. On the North Shore, Shore is an Anglican boys’ school with boarding, publishing 2027 tuition from $47,080 (Year 7) to $49,980 (Year 12) plus levies and camps, and full boarding at $35,720 a year. Families looking further north often compare Knox Grammar School fees, and those weighing a boarding year in Victoria can read our Geelong Grammar School fees page. For the wider city picture, see international schools in Sydney.

NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY (NGA) is an online international school for ages 6–18 focused on Asia and Oceania, opening in September 2027 (planned), with a first cohort of 100 students. It is operated by NIJIN Inc. in Japan, whose alternative school NIJIN Academy has more than 1,000 students. Classes are small live dialogue groups of about 8, with subjects learned in English, a bilingual (English–Japanese) mentor, CEFR-based English levels, social co-creation projects with companies and governments, and international exchange; an optional Cambridge IGCSE / A-Level pathway is listed on the curriculum and timetable page. There is no academic entrance exam and no English requirement. It can run alongside a local school or as the main school, and it travels with the family if they relocate. Tuition is not yet published; NGA says it will be far more affordable than a typical international school, with no enrolment, facility or uniform fees, materials included and sibling discounts. Free trial classes run monthly from September 2026. The timetable is built for Asia–Oceania daytime, so it fits an Australian day well; families in the Americas or Europe should check live class times against their local time.

Be clear about the trade-offs: NGA is not yet open, is not yet accredited and has no graduates or track record. It does not award the HSC or the IB Diploma, and it offers no boarding, no campus and no Wolgan Valley. If you want an Australian school with a recognised senior credential and a full campus life, Cranbrook, Sydney Grammar and Shore are the schools to compare.

For a wider view, see our online international schools compared guide or online school options in Australia.

See how NGA admissions work →

Comparing Sydney boys’ schools? See Trinity Grammar School Sydney fees 2027.

For sisters or co-ed comparisons in Sydney, see SCEGGS fees and Pymble Ladies’ College fees (official 2026 figures, totals and entry steps).

FAQ

How much does Cranbrook School cost per year?

For 2026 (domestic, AUD): Kindergarten $35,526; Years 1–2 $37,785; Years 3–4 $41,826; Years 5–6 $43,236; Years 7–10 $50,478; Years 11–12 $52,470. Boarding adds $46,602 a year in Years 7–12. International tuition ranges from $43,671 to $63,588 (official 2026 Fee Schedule, checked 3 November 2026). 2027 fees were not yet published.

What are Cranbrook boarding fees?

$46,602 a year ($15,534 per instalment) for Years 7–12, on top of tuition, for both domestic and international boarders. A domestic boarder pays $97,080 a year in Years 7–10 and $99,072 in Years 11–12 in total.

Is Cranbrook accredited, and does it offer the IB?

Cranbrook is an IB World School offering the IB Diploma or the NSW HSC in Years 11–12, with the IB Middle Years Programme framework in Years 7–10. It is an approved provider for overseas students (CRICOS 02298E).

Can international students and girls enrol?

Yes. Overseas students can apply and board; their tuition is higher than domestic tuition. Girls have been admitted into Years 7 and 11 since 2026, with full co-education planned by 2029.

Is Cranbrook worth it, and what are the alternatives?

It can be for children who will use the IB or HSC choice, the campus life and, if needed, boarding. Families often compare Sydney Grammar School, Shore and Knox Grammar. NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY is a very different, online option for ages 6–18 with no academic entrance exam and no English requirement; it opens in September 2027 and is not yet accredited.

Choosing calmly, with the whole picture

Cranbrook offers a rare combination in Sydney: a harbourside K–12 campus, a choice of IB or HSC, boarding, a bush campus in the Wolgan Valley and a school in the middle of becoming co-educational. The most useful step now is to check the entry point and co-education timeline for your child’s year, then add the $7,940 in entry fees, any boarding and the extras to every year you expect them to stay. Whichever school you choose, the right one is the place where your child will be known, stretched and happy.

Tuition and admissions details were checked on the official websites on 3 November 2026. Schools revise fees every year — always confirm on the official site before applying.

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